In reflecting on 2021 and the crazy start to the 2020’s we felt it was an opportunity to reflect a bit. The topics covered are nothing new, and the same conversation can probably be held over-and-over again. Although the way it’s presented the contents is not overly formal, the content is still true and often quite amusing to discuss. Here’s our Top 5 antenna related experiences of the last 24 months.
First does my antenna need a power supply – no, previously the simple answer was NO, it does not. But things have gotten more complicated and there are new solutions out there that do. For example the Poynting https://poynting.tech/antennas/epnt-2/ .
Second: Can I use a splitter to create MIMO – no, you cannot. It does not work that way. A splitter just splits signal and you get a much worse outcome. Using a splitter-cable, where you jam two cables into one connector is an even worse idea. It may break your MIMO.
Three: Can I reuse old coaxial for 4G/5G – also not a good idea. Especially if it is an old RG6, you definitely need a 50 ohm cable for any 4G/5G applications (so thats LMR195/240/400). Also if you don’t exactly know how the cable has been used, it may be a problem. It may have moisture damage/corrosion, or it may have kinks in it, that ruin the cable.
Four: Does 5G cause Covid-19 – No, it absolutely does not.
Five: Any old aerial will be just fine – sadly, no. It may be ok in a city with strong signal, but as soon as you go to a low signal area, you will have failures. You will not be able to connect.
Video transcript
Top five antenna myths of 2021. I tried to keep it simple I’m trying to make it real but in this case there’s a few topics I just wanted to quickly run through. Listing five of those so let’s start with a list:
The first one: this is a topic that I discussed last year and it actually is the worst performing video from last year. Not in terms of nobody watches it – it’s just actually because I got the most dislikes. Now I don’t know if this is because people think it’s dumb to talk about this but I still get the question a lot and I do understand where people are coming from with this question.
If you are in the know and this is a type of topic that you don’t think is relevant it is relevant for a lot of people that are not technical. It’s the same like me going to the doctor – I can go to google, I could see what’s going on with what I think if I have a problem, or I could go to the doctor, who is a specialist and may have a better idea of what I actually need to know. So
same here that um i think it’s definitely it’s a valid question and the answer is no you don’t need an external antenna I don’t need an external power supply for your external antenna. And it gets interesting because that’s no longer true if you look at the new product that Poynting has released which is a EPNT-2 this thing actually will house the antenna and the router the modem and whatever you have can be placed right next to it as well then this whole combination will go on to the or um your pole now that’s a whole topic that i will cover over the um coming coming few months because this is actually a really sensible solution technically speaking so there’s a lot of good reasons why you want to do that but the thing is for those you will have to have power going up to your antenna because your antenna is up there the fact that your router is also there that gets the power so it gets very muddy and when people are not technical that’s we’re trying to explain yeah it’s an antenna but there’s also a modem with it it gets very you know it’s just there’s a fine line in between what is obvious and what is actually getting quite technical and i think that’s getting to the point where you say well that’s crossing the border to becoming a bit too technical for majority of users that’s why for an antenna only when your router is on the inside don’t worry about power it’s all good and when you actually have a complicated solution that someone says this is better there’s probably going to be power up there and that’s what we’ll cover in the next 12 months because that is an awesome thing to do right did i say that’s number one that was number five.
Number four using a splitter to create MIMO, again this is a video that I did last year and got good results. It wasn’t negatively received but it’s still an ongoing question and I think this is going to be probably a question again in 2022 and going forward as well, as we get more MIMO systems. MIMO is at the moment two by two, so there’s two antennas which is easy. Two it’s an easy conversation, but with 5G and and more high demanding technologies, 4×4 and beyond, is happening more and more. You can’t use a splitter to create MIMO. You create a single port into two – it’s not MIMO. So that’s basically the essence of that. I did discuss that in the video and last year, it’s going to be an ongoing conversation. Now on the slide that I have, that is obviously a proper splitter which is properly done already is a better option to use, if something like this ever becomes relevant. Then the other picture that I have there, is also taken from that video I did before, which is basically taking two cables and just cramming that into a single connector. It’s a bad design, it’s going to give you more problems than just breaking your MIMO, so don’t even go there that’s totally not a recommended solution.
Number three you’re reusing old coax for 4G or 5G. Now I guess when I wrote this actual slide while I was specifically thinking I get a lot of times the question that there’s RG6 or old satellite or old TV cable already routed in the house so people want to know can I use that cable for my 4G connection? So, in that specific topic not a good idea! Because it’s a different type of cable, you need 50 ohms for wi-fi for 4G for 5G – TV systems (satellite system, tv satellite systems) work in 75 ohm. So, it’s a different type of thing, so you’re going to introduce many more issues – losses and performance issues if you use that. It’s normally only one cable anyway so you can’t have a MIMO system. So, there’s a lot of not good ideas.
Now the photo that I use on the slide is also coming to the point, where if it’s old connectors old cable even if it’s the correct type of cable – you need to be very careful, unless you know exactly how the cable was used and where it was used. That’s also flawed with risk. There could be corrosion on the connectors, there could be corrosion in the cables if there’s any moisture or dampness that might have happened over the course of the lifespan of the cable. Also, it could be just bumped so a cable needs to be nicely coaxial hence the word – if there’s a thing, even kink, if somebody bent it too tightly once, it’s just going to have some issues. So, unless you know how the cable was used and operated and it’s perfectly placed and never was touched, it’s better to go for decent cable and decent quality connectors such as Jye Bao, which we sell.
Two of course this is one that wasn’t 2021, it was 2020 as well. More so 2020, and I have to put that in there. Fortunately I wasn’t confronted too many times with that here in Australia in the RFShop, the topic is really does 5G cause COVID? Or that 5G and COVID had anything to do with each other. Do I say anything I guess being RFShop, being an antenna company, being a 5G 4G company it’s no secret where I stand on this topic. I’m totally passionate about the technology and I’m totally frustrated, like probably 100 % of the world at COVID, but the two are totally different fields and I almost feel, by going into the conversation, about one science and the other science, and trying to say why they don’t mix and why it’s not related at all. I already give too much credit to the people that think like this, so my final answer is just: NO, obviously not don’t call us up, don’t ask me what I think about this, the answer is simple. This is just totally different unrelated. No don’t even go there this is just not happening, it’s not, it’s not boom.
Number one: “any old aerial will be just fine!” Now this was also a video that was not well received always. I had some dislikes, people just thinking why I even bother. Some people saying “man it’s time somebody talks out about this on Youtube”. If you go on Ebay and you find a 4G antenna you buy just the first and you will get the best 4G internet you can find. You get ridiculous numbers (gain and performance) and it’s phenomenally cheap and numbers that are phenomenally high in terms of performance – it is good to be true it doesn’t turn out at all. You need to really go for quality and then (well not premium necessarily) but you need to look out for quality and a reputable plant and probably if you look over my left shoulder here, that’s a clue on where my head is at. As well I’m with Poynting antennas – they’re definitely part of that category where you buy into a brand that has reputation and proven results and there are a lot of examples out there where it works just phenomenally well.
Of course, the photo that I use That I have used on a lot of lectures as well – it’s just a lot of people with car radio/FM radio – they just bend a little map out. It’s just showing it can be done, but it means you’re in a good signal. So, the signal is so good that even with that bad type of antenna you still get good enough signal. But that type of antenna there would just fail if you go into the rural areas, where a proper antenna would start working, and the same logic works as well the same way with 4G and 5G antennas. That you probably could get away with a bad antenna in the city, you might think that it works well but once you go to places where the antenna is actually engaged and need it – that’s where the thing will just totally fall over, and it can’t work. The other thing as well is with the bad designs that with 5G coming in (did I mention I love 5G, I do) it brings complexity and demands quality.
So, we’re now a 2×2, which is just a little bit of technicalities there. It’s going to get more complex as we get more demanding on our data speeds and stuff. It’s just going to get worse or better whichever way you want to see it. The requirement on the detail of the antenna is going to get more and more important. If you have a bad antenna the problems that you’re going to have is just going to get worse and worse. So, the difference between there’s a bad antenna there’s a good antenna: I get the same results in the city, when I’m right next to the base station, sure. You move away you go into the suburbs: I still get a good signal, my performance is not quite what it was, but it’s still quite acceptable. Then you go out into the remote areas: this is what I need for my antenna – that’s what I’m going to get from the antenna. You can see it’s worlds apart so that’s what’s going to happen more and more and that difference between the experience of a good and bad antenna – it’s going to get worse quicker and you’re going to get bad experiences, even where you currently think you can get away with bad antenna. So my advice just don’t go there, that’s all I have to say about that. Looking forward for the next five topics that I could discuss in the coming 12 months. I’ll see how this goes if it draws any attention then we’ll keep working on the video material and what we can do on all our stuff. So thanks for watching. I’ll see you again soon, cheers bye!